I started looked at real estate.  What? It wasn’t all me, I have a partner in crime to help me out here. And SHE was filling my inbox with all these really great listings for sell. 

 At first it was, “Let’s look at these foreclosures “fixer uppers” in poor “up and coming” neighborhoods.  We were thinking that we’d buy a property for +/- $60,000 and we figured we’d need about $50,000 to do proper restoration and renovations.  Then we had to come to terms with the fact that lots of those homes have electrical, roofing, plumbing, we-might-have-to-replace-everything kinds of problems and neither of us is prepared to take that on. Besides, we don’t really have to capital (otherwise, I’d buy one in a heartbeat). 

 (aside: If anyone wants to sponsor me, I really want to buy this one. Email me, I have some really cool ideas on what to do with it.)

 So we progressed to looking small-ish condos that might need a little cosmetic work.  We started looking in the $100,000 price range and were prepared to spend an additional $20,000 on updates. Things like updating the kitchen cabinets and appliances, adding in hardwood floors, update the lighting and other fixtures, and doing some painting. Still we were skittish.

 Now we’ve started looking at turn-key townhomes. Now we’re looking in the $130,000’s (still relatively low) and I must say, even when I go into these homes that are pretty updated, I’m still thinking of all the things I’d change and  how the past owners had the worst taste ever. Why do people still put up wall paper and carpet in the bathroom? 

 I love houses. I love house hunting, even when I’m just looking at the pictures of the listings from my computer.  And I love to do drive-bys to see if the different neighborhoods are places I’d like to live. And with the low (and still falling) home prices and the still skyrocketing number of foreclosures, and the government money that’s available (‘til Dec 1) for home buyers. I wonder how many other new young home buyers are entering the market?

 Thoughts?

 ***We do not take responsibility for this speculative behavior.  We blame HGTV’s wonderful line-up of design and home-buying shows. I truly believe that I could be an amazing home flipper.